Chasuble

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This garment is almost certainly a dealer's composite object, assembled at the end of the nineteenth century: though resembling a priestly chasuble, it is unconventionally large, and combines a very low quality, thin, and relatively modern patched velvet with an older set of embroideries. The embroideries, suffering substantial losses and considerable later intervention, are nonetheless of some interest due to their raised work technique: exposed cords, particularly visible in the architectural elements, were once wrapped with thread. The use of this type of stuffed figurative embroidery on vestments was particularly prevalent in eastern Europe, often executed to a considerably higher standard than displayed here.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art